Hello all. Made my second (of two attempts) Summit Saturday via the MR, but even more fun was the 4 friends that went up with me. The times were nothing to brag about, but as everyone knows the views were. What a great day it was.
One of the guys has been back packing for over 30 years and has wanted to summit Whitney, but prefers solitude while hiking (the main trail wasn't his cup of tea). When I described the MR to him last year he was in.. So the planning began last Sept. He was so thankful to have finally did it. It really made my day.
Another member is 19 and had never hiked anywhere before. Talk about a first hike experience... He looked at my pictures of last years hike and was hooked. Luckily he trained with me for the past month and had a great time.
The other two were equally as thankful (athough very tired as they certainly took their time up and down) and had a great time.
And guess what... today my oldest daughter decided she wants to visit the top, so the planning begins for the next summit.
Thank you all for all of your posts and sharing of your experiences and guidance with regard to Whitney. And thank you Santacruiser - Mark - for taking me up last year so that I can help to spread such a great past time.
Have a great (safe) day all.
Richard
